What a stupid move. Binghamton sits right in the middle of the Eastern teams. Short trips to Rochester,Syracuse, Utica,Albany,Wilkes Barre,Hershey, Lehigh Valley and even not too far from the New England teams. Now Ottawa is adding thousands of miles of travel to their prospects.But wait, this is Ottawa, stupid moves are a way of life with this franchise.
This keeping the prospects close to home is BS. The LA Kings won 2 cups within 3 years and their farm club was 3,000 miles away in Manchester. Really didn't hurt them too much did it.
Toronto's farm club is in the same city and the maple leafs are the worst team in the league.
With this move by Ottawa I expect them to hoist the cup within 3 years,yea right it'll never happen.
This keeping the prospects close to home is BS. The LA Kings won 2 cups within 3 years and their farm club was 3,000 miles away in Manchester. Really didn't hurt them too much did it.
Toronto's farm club is in the same city and the maple leafs are the worst team in the league.
With this move by Ottawa I expect them to hoist the cup within 3 years,yea right it'll never happen.
Travel within the AHL is no longer a prime consideration for NHL clubs. That changed when the western NHL clubs moved their affiliation out west. Now, the primary concern for NHL clubs is having their affiliate as close as possible to home base so they can incorporate them into the daily life of the NHL operation whether its scouting, training, nutrition or medical etc.
It's the new AHL....
The way its understood is the Senators will purchase the AHL franchise from Tom Mitchell and relocate to Belleville for the 2017-'18 season. The Albany Devils will relocate to Binghamton with Mitchell acting as manager of the organization. The Canucks have plan in place to move its team west. I've heard Pacific Coliseum in the first choice, but they are looking at Abbotsford, Victoria and another un-named city in BC.... St. John's will relocate to Laval. Whether another team relocates to Albany or Utica remains to be seen. I've heard yes that's its a possibility and I've heard that the ECHL is likely option for both cities.
SO about these renovations and upgrades to yardmen arena? From what I've heard its quite a dump, ice size is international, and it seats under 4000 for hockey? Will the renovations expand capacity and fix the ice?? I feel like Yardmen needs a ton of work before its ready for AHL
Travel is not a big issue for the wealthy teams, agreed.
But it remains an issue for the budget teams, of which the Sens are one. Not the biggest factor determining location, but a factor nonetheless.
SO about these renovations and upgrades to yardmen arena? From what I've heard its quite a dump, ice size is international, and it seats under 4000 for hockey? Will the renovations expand capacity and fix the ice?? I feel like Yardmen needs a ton of work before its ready for AHL
Doesnt mean Binghamton is losing their team pretty sure the Rangers or Islanders would like to move their ahl team in Binghamton
Victoria isn't giving up on their WHL junior team Royals to bring in an AHL team. It just isn't happening....
...unless that team is the Canucks farm team, which of course it will be.
Excellent, excellent question. The budget I've heard is $7 million, which should afford some solid renovations.
A couple of thoughts:
1) Fixing the ice size is easy ... take 7.5 feet off each side, and you have NHL ice. The question is what they'll do with the stands on each side. I imagine that most of the $7 million budget will go to addressing that problem.
2) One great thing about Yardmen is that it is attached to the city's new(ish) multi-purpose recreation centre. A creative architect can easily accommodate more fans and have better amenities using existing space. It does not need to expand the building to raise the quality of the fan experience, or to create AHL-calibre team facilities.
3) A big challenge for Yardmen is increasing seating capacity. It has a low ceiling, and the ends of the ice surface are met by solid walls. It is in a field (on the edge of town), so should they wish to expand seating on one end it would be possible. To me, seating capacity is the biggest challenge they'll face in renovations.
I remember coaching at the Utica arena when it was a dump. As the visiting team, we had a change room designed for figure skaters. It's easy enough to update dressing rooms / training facilities / fan amenities so long as the space is there, which it was in Utica. If Belleville can address the seating capacity issue, the rest will be easy.
Excellent, excellent question. The budget I've heard is $7 million, which should afford some solid renovations.
A couple of thoughts:
1) Fixing the ice size is easy ... take 7.5 feet off each side, and you have NHL ice. The question is what they'll do with the stands on each side. I imagine that most of the $7 million budget will go to addressing that problem.
2) One great thing about Yardmen is that it is attached to the city's new(ish) multi-purpose recreation centre. A creative architect can easily accommodate more fans and have better amenities using existing space. It does not need to expand the building to raise the quality of the fan experience, or to create AHL-calibre team facilities.
3) A big challenge for Yardmen is increasing seating capacity. It has a low ceiling, and the ends of the ice surface are met by solid walls. It is in a field (on the edge of town), so should they wish to expand seating on one end it would be possible. To me, seating capacity is the biggest challenge they'll face in renovations.
I remember coaching at the Utica arena when it was a dump. As the visiting team, we had a change room designed for figure skaters. It's easy enough to update dressing rooms / training facilities / fan amenities so long as the space is there, which it was in Utica. If Belleville can address the seating capacity issue, the rest will be easy.
The plan for the ice is to drop the ice down several feet (they have to replace all the piping anyways), make it NHL sized and then add additional seating below the current seating up to the glass. this will add a couple of hundred seats.
The North wall section will be taken down and replaced with seating around that end of the ice to increase capacity further (by about 1000). This was the plan several years ago but the city changed its mind and expanded the complex to include the two new ice rinks, pool and gym.
The locker rooms will need to be upgraded, especially the visitors room.
Bingo seats about 4679 but fills it almost every game (3812). Albany seats 15K, but averaged 3366 last season. Utica averaged 3860 in a 3860 seat arena.
Which city of those three would you avoid?
You do not want to affiliate with the Devils. They look for greener pastures with new affiliate cities, salt the field so nothing will grow, complain that their field is barren and won't grow anything, then drive off looking for the next green field to dry up.I would hope a team choses Utica > Binghamton for when the Canucks decide to head west, id say Utica has been an outstanding partner since they have entered the league. Devils or maybe the Rangers as a possibility ?
The Kings management stated several times that the biggest factor was salary cap. When you call a player up from the AHL he counts against the NHL cap as soon as you make the call, even if it takes him a day or two to join the team. Same thing going down, he counts against the NHL cap until he rejoins the AHL team. So a team like LA with their AHL team on the opposite coast was getting hit for 2-3 days of extra salary against the cap on every callup compared to a team like Philly who can call a player after morning skate and have him play in the NHL that night, and send him back down after the game. Do that a couple dozen times a year and it adds up to enough money that you have to carry less players, or you lose out on a free agent you might want to sign.This keeping the prospects close to home is BS. The LA Kings won 2 cups within 3 years and their farm club was 3,000 miles away in Manchester. Really didn't hurt them too much did it.
Toronto's farm club is in the same city and the maple leafs are the worst team in the league.
With this move by Ottawa I expect them to hoist the cup within 3 years,yea right it'll never happen.
You do not want to affiliate with the Devils. They look for greener pastures with new affiliate cities, salt the field so nothing will grow, complain that their field is barren and won't grow anything, then drive off looking for the next green field to dry up.
You're kidding, RIGHT?
Albany. No question.
The Kings management stated several times that the biggest factor was salary cap. When you call a player up from the AHL he counts against the NHL cap as soon as you make the call, even if it takes him a day or two to join the team. Same thing going down, he counts against the NHL cap until he rejoins the AHL team. So a team like LA with their AHL team on the opposite coast was getting hit for 2-3 days of extra salary against the cap on every callup compared to a team like Philly who can call a player after morning skate and have him play in the NHL that night, and send him back down after the game. Do that a couple dozen times a year and it adds up to enough money that you have to carry less players, or you lose out on a free agent you might want to sign.
The Kings management stated several times that the biggest factor was salary cap. When you call a player up from the AHL he counts against the NHL cap as soon as you make the call, even if it takes him a day or two to join the team. Same thing going down, he counts against the NHL cap until he rejoins the AHL team. So a team like LA with their AHL team on the opposite coast was getting hit for 2-3 days of extra salary against the cap on every callup compared to a team like Philly who can call a player after morning skate and have him play in the NHL that night, and send him back down after the game. Do that a couple dozen times a year and it adds up to enough money that you have to carry less players, or you lose out on a free agent you might want to sign.